Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland

SC2807 Upper Bighouse, Sutherland

Satellite Imagery

Satellite Imagery

HER:  Highland HER MHG9653 (None)

NMR:  NC 85 NE 1 (6797)

SM:  None

NGR:  NC 8896 5752

X:  288960  Y:  957520  (OSGB36)

Summary

The heavily robbed broch situated on the summit of the morainic ridge overlooking the haughland of the River Naver at Upper Bighouse lies within an outer fortified enclosure. Standing on a morainic ridge, the principle element of the outer defences is a substantial ditch, which is most clearly visible where it has been cut through the moraine on the N and S, but the flanks may also have been scarped elsewhere. The ditch is accompanied internally by a rampart reduced to a stony bank, which can be traced round the lip of the summit everywhere except the SE to enclose an area measuring about 30m from E to W by 27m transversely (0.06ha). There is an entrance on the NW. Apart from the broch, the only feature visible within the interior are the footings of a rectangular structure on the NE.

Status

Citizen Science:  

Reliability of Data:  Confirmed

Reliability of Interpretation:  Unconfirmed

Location

X:  -434877  Y:  8071344  (EPSG: 3857)

Longitude:  -3.9065620683406586  Latitude:  58.491784954982386  (EPSG:4326)

Country:  Scotland

Current County or Unitary Authority:  Highland

Historic County:  Sutherland

Current Parish/Community/Council/Townland:  Farr

Monument Condition

None

Condition:
Extant  
Cropmark  
Likely Destroyed  

Land Use

None

Current Use:
Woodland  
Commercial Forestry Plantation  
Parkland  
Pasture (Grazing)  
Arable  
Scrub/Bracken  
Bare Outcrop  
Heather/Moorland  
Heath  
Built-up  
Coastal Grassland  
Other  

Landscape

Hillfort Type

None

Type:
Contour Fort  
Partial Contour Fort  
Promontory Fort  
Hillslope Fort  
Level Terrain Fort  
Marsh Fort  
Multiple Enclosure Fort  

Topographic Position

Position:
Hilltop  
Coastal Promontory  
Inland Promontory  
Valley Bottom  
Knoll/Hillock/Outcrop  
Ridge  
Cliff/Plateau-edge/Scarp  
Hillslope  
Lowland  
Spur  

Dominant Topographic Feature:  None

Aspect:
North  
Northeast  
East  
Southeast  
South  
Southwest  
West  
Northwest  
Level  

Altitude:  30.0m

Boundary

N/A


Dating Evidence

In the absence of excavation, there are neither stratified artefacts nor radiocarbon dates to provide a chronology for the defences.

Reliability:  D - None

Principal Activity:
Pre 1200BC  
1200BC - 800BC  
800BC - 400BC  
400BC - AD50  
AD50 - AD400  
AD400 - AD 800  
Post AD800  
Unknown  

Other Activity:
Pre Hillfort:   None
Post Hillfort:   Robbing and overlain by a rectangular structure

Evidence:No related records

Investigation History

None

Investigations:
1st Identified Written Reference (1871):   Appears in a list appended to a paper read in 1871 and first published in 1874 (Anderson 1890)
1st Identified Map Depiction (1960):   Visited by the OS
Earthwork Survey (1977):   Revised at 1:2500 by the OS and plan at 1:1250, probably by John MacRae
Other (1980):   Surveyed by R J Mercer (1980, 149)
Other (1985):   Description and sketch-plan (Swanson 1988, 763-5, cited in MacKie 2007, 648)

Interior Features

Featureless apart from the broch and what is thought to be a later rectangular building

Water Source

None

Source:
None  
Spring  
Stream  
Pool  
Flush  
Well  
Other  

Surface

Broch

Interior Features (Surface):
No Known Features  
Round Stone Structures  
Rectangular Stone Structures  
Curvilinear Platforms  
Other Roundhouse Evidence  
Pits  
Quarry Hollows  
Other  

Excavation

None

Interior Features (Excavation):
No Known Excavation  
Pits  
Postholes  
Roundhouses  
Rectangular Structures  
Roads/Tracks  
Quarry Hollows  
Other  
Nothing Found  

Geophysics

None

Interior Features (Geophysics):
No Known Geophysics  
Pits  
Roundhouses  
Rectangular Structures  
Roads/Tracks  
Quarry Hollows  
Other  
Nothing Found  

Finds

None

Interior (Finds):
No Known Finds  
Pottery  
Metal  
Metalworking  
Human Bones  
Animal Bones  
Lithics  
Environmental  
Other  

Aerial

Broch

Interior Features (Aerial):
APs Not Checked  
None  
Roundhouses  
Rectangular Structures  
Pits  
Postholes  
Roads/Tracks  
Other  

Entrances

See main summary

Total Number of Breaks Through Ramparts:  
1:   None

Number of Possible Original Entrances:  
2:   None

Guard Chambers:  

Chevaux de Frise:  

Entrances:
1. Simple Gap (North west):   None

Enclosing Works

Single rampart with external ditch

Enclosed Area:
Area 1:   0.06ha.
Total:   0.06ha.

Total Footprint Area:  Noneha.

Ramparts

None

Multi-period Enclosure System:
✗   None

Ramparts Form a Continuous Circuit:
✗   None

Number of Ramparts:  
NE Quadrant:   1
SE Quadrant:   0
SW Quadrant:   1
NW Quadrant:   1
Total:   1

Morphology

Current Morphology:
Partial Univallate  
Univallate  
Partial Bivallate  
Bivallate  
Partial Multivallate  
Multivallate  
Unknown  

Detailed Morphology:
Partial Univallate  
Univallate  
Partial Bivallate  
Bivallate  
Partial Multivallate  
Multivallate  

Surface Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Surface):
None  
Earthen Bank  
Stone Wall  
Rubble  
Wall-walk  
Evidence of Timber  
Vitrification  
Other Burning  
Palisade  
Counter Scarp Bank  
Berm  
Unfinished  
Other  

Excavated Evidence

None

Enclosing Works (Excavation):
None  
Earthen Bank  
Stone Wall  
Murus Duplex  
Timber-framed  
Timber-laced  
Vitrification  
Other Burning  
Palisade  
Counter Scarp Bank  
Berm  
Unfinished  
No Known Excavation  
Other  

Other

Gang Working:
✗   None

Ditches:
✓   None

Number of Ditches:  1

Annex:
✗   None

References

Anderson, J (1890) 'Notice of the excavation of the brochs of Yarhouse, Brounaben, Bowermadden, Old Stirkake, and Dunbeath in Caithness; with remarks on the period of the brochs, and an appendix, containing a collected list of the brochs of Scotland, and early notices of many of them, with a map showing sites of brochs'. Archaeol Scot 5. 1 (1874), 131-98

MacKie, E W (2007) The Roundhouses, Brochs and Wheelhouses of Atlantic Scotland c.700 BC-AD 500: architecture and material culture, the Northern and Southern Mainland and the Western Islands, BAR British series 444(II), 444(1), 2 V. BAR: Oxford

Mercer, R J (1980) Archaeological field survey in northern Scotland, 1976-1979. University of Edinburgh, Department of Archaeology, Occasional Paper No. 4: Edinburgh

Swanson, C B (1988) A contribution to the understanding of brochs, Unpublished Ph D thesis. University of Edinburgh



Terms of Use

This work is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 and should be cited as:

Lock, Gary and Ralston, Ian. 2024. Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland. Available at: https://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk


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